Letter feeding and separating machine



(No Model.) 2 sheets-Sheet 1.

M. J. DOLPHIN. LETTER FEEDING AND SB'PARATING MAGE-INE.

Patented Aug. 6, 1889.

WITNESSES: Mg/epwd MNVBNTOR SEW ATTORNYS.

(No Model.) 2 sheetssheen 2:

M. J. DOLPHIN. Y LETTER EEEDING ANDSEPARATING MACHINE.

10.408.405 y Patented`Aug.6,188Q.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR l AYToHN Ys, l

' UNITED ASTATES.

PATENT OFFICE.

MATTHENV J.DOLPHIN,.OF BROKLYN, NEW YORK.

LETTER FEEDING AND SEPARATING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 408,405, dated August6, 1889. Application filed .Tune 3, 1887. Renewed February 25, 1889.Serial No. 301,163. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, MATTHEW J. DoLPHIN,

of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have inventednew and useful Improvements in Machines for Separating and FeedingLetters, of which the following, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to certain new anduseful improvements in automaticfeeding and separating mechanism for letter-markingmachines, in whichletters in quantities are placed into afeeding-receptacle and fedforward to the marking mechanism; and the objects of my invent-ion are,first, to automatically feed forward'the letters to a separatingmechanism, and, second, to automatically separate and feed forward butone letter only at a time to the marker, as will be more fullyhereinafter described in the specification and specifically pointed outin the claims. These objects are attained by the mechanism illustratedin the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 represents a top planview of my improved feeding' and separating` mechanism, showing thegeneral arrangement and construction of the various parts. Fig. 2 is aside elevation showing the arrangement of feeding-rollers. Fig. 3 is atransverse vertical section on line of Fig. 2, showing the arrangementof the separating-rollers and their peculiar connections, whereby saidrollers are caused to yield for the purpose of permitting letters ofvarying thicknesses to passfreely through between theseparating-rollers. Fig. 3 is a detail view of the universal-jointconnection. Fig. 4 is an end view, partlyvin section, taken back of theletter-feeding receptacle, showing t-he arrangement of the yieldingly-journaled check and pressure roller and feed-rollers. Fig. 5 is anenlarged detached view` of the frictional device for operating theseparating-rollers with varyin g speed.

In the drawings, the letter A indicates the support or frame upon whichis mounted an automatic letter-feeding receptacle A for feeding lettersplaced in quantities therein. This receptacle consists of two parallelside walls a a and a horizontal feed-belt b, running on drums b b,journaled in suitable bearings in the support or frame, said beltconstituting the bottom of the receptacle. The side walls a, a serve asguides and supports for the letters, and one of said .walls terminatesin a curved extension a', with the extending point a2 in close proximityto the entrance of the feed. The belt b is driven in a slightly-obliquedirection, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, the purpose of which willbe hereinafter explained. For convenience, I will hereinafter designatethese parts the letter-feeding receptacle.

The positive feeding mechanism consists of three rollers fr r r2, theformer Ybeing mounted on the vertical shaft t and the two latter on thevertical shaft t. The lower ends of these shafts are journaled insuitable bearings made in the support or frame and. the upper ends in anarm B of areetangular yoke B.

The separator consists of two rollers r3 r4, mounted on a vertical shafts, journaled in yielding bearings c c. By Areference to Fig. 3 of thedrawings it will be seen that the separating-rollers `are locatedopposite the positive feeding-rollers mounted on the shaft t. It will benoticed that these rollers are'arranged in the same horizontal plane andthat their Iinner peripheries are slightly separated. The purpose of theseparating-rollers is twofold, serving as pressure-rollers to press apassing letter up to the positive feed-rollers and as a means toseparate the letters, so that but one letter at a time can pass throughbetween the two sets of rollers, as will be more fully hereinafterexplained.

In the arrangement of the feeding-rollers it .will be seen that therollers r r2 are separated on their shaft by a small space. This is forthe purpose of having the roller 7^, which is mounted on its shaft nearthe center, project or interlap a short distance between the rollers rr2, the object being to afford a bearing or support for the rear andforward ,ends of a passing letter of the shortest length used, ashereinafter explained.

The feeding and separating rollers are covered with rubber or othersuitable material, in order to secure a frictional hold upon the lettersto feed them positively and rapidly.

The shaft s is connected to a short shaft s IOO by means of ashaft-section s2 andthe universal joints e e. The shaft s is journaledin a bearing made in the arm B2 of the yoke B, and carries adriving-pulley g, which is driven by a belt 7c, running from a groovedpulley g on the shaft t. By means .of the yielding bearings anduniversal-joint connections the separating-rollers are permitted. toyield freely in ahorizontal plane to allow a free and nninterruptedpassage to a letter of varying and uniform thickness, or in an inclinedvertical direction to allow letters of uneven thicknesses to be fedthrough, or to yield in both directions at the same time, so thatletters of both varying and uneven thicknesses may be fed through, thesaid rollers always presenting an even peripheral surface to the letterand constantly exerting a pressure by means of the spirals d dsuliicient to press the same up to or against the positive feed-rollerslocated opposite to insure a rapid and positive feed for the letter.

Located substantially opposite to the centrally-mounted feed-roller r isa check or hinderance roller rf, yieldingly journ aled in bearings ff,made in horizontal brackets f f of the frame, only one of each beingshown, as

in Figs. l and 4. The function of this roller is to h inder or check theentrance of more than two or three letters at a time to the separator.It also serves as a pressure-roller, by means of the spiral 7i, to pressthe passing letters up against the feed-roller r.

A roller r6, mounted on a vertical shaft m, journaled in rigid bearings,is located opposite the curved extension a and between the end of Wall aand feed-roller r, and serves both as a support and a feed-roller forthe letters, it being driven by a belt running from a pulley on theshaft t, which in turn is driven byabelt running from a pulley on theshaft t.

The separating-rollers are driven with a variable power and speed bymeans ofa peculiar friction device, (shown in Figs. 3 and 5,) whichsecures by friction the grooved pulley g to the shaft t. This frictiondevice consists of a leather washer w, a steel spring 0c, formed with acollar, and a binding- The pulley g is fitted loosely on the shaft,resting upon a collar formed on said shaft, the washer resting upon thepulley, and.

the binding-screw serving to bind th'e whole together by compressing thespring upon the washer, which in turn binds, frictionally, the groovedpulley sufficiently tight on the shaft to drive the rollers r3 r4through the medium of the spring-belt 7c' or other connection with thepulley g on the shaft s. Vhen a very thick letter is bein g fed through,the resistance of the separating-rollers is increased, which causes anincreased strain on the driving-belt 7e. This increased strainovercoming the resistance of the friction device, the pulley g turns onits shaft for an instant without operating the pulley g and theseparating-rollers.

It will be observed that the shafts carrying `thefeed-rollers arejournaled in stationary bearings, and that it is only theseparatingrollers and check-roller that are journaled in yieldingbearings.

Itis well known that letters are not uniform in width and thickness,owing to the different ways of folding, and frequently lunevennessoccurs, and vit is because of these varying conditions that I arrangethe separating and feeding rollers in the manner above described-thatis, so that both the separating and feeding rollers might have africtional hold upon the letters at different points'thereon-therebysecuring a positive feed for the letters.

It will be evident that the yielding feature and the universal-jointconnections of the separator allow the rollers to conform to the varyingconditions of the letters.

The separation of the letters depends upon the resistance offered by thesurfaces of the separating-rollers, an d it will be observed that,although they are driven in the same direction as that of thefeed-rollers, the peripheral surface of the separating-rollers at thepoint of contact with the letters travels in a direction opposite orcontrary to the direction of travel of the feed-rollers at the samepoint, as indicated by the arrows in Fig. l. This described action ofthe separating-rollers separates the letters, or, in other Words, forcesbackward all letters but that one which is adjacent to thefeeding-rollers and holds them until that letter has been fed through,when the next letter adjacent to the feed-rollers is separated and fedthrough, the operation continuing until all the letters are separatedand fed through. It will be readily understood that this peculiar actionis due to the following conditions, viz: As the letters approach theseparator only two are permitted to enter between the separating andfeeding rollers. The letter adjacent to the feeding-rollers is forcedforward by the frictional contact of the rollers with the letter, whilethe let-ter adjacent to the separating-rollers is at the same .timeforced backward by a similar contact eX- erted by theseparating-rollers, it being borne in mind that the inner periphery atthe point of contact of the separating-rollers is traveling in adirection opposite to that of the feeding-rollers, this action causing acomplete and perfect separation of the letters, made easy by thesmoothness of the adjacent surfaces of the two letters. f

From the above description the operation of my improved separating andfeeding mechanism is readily understood. The letters are placed edgewiselongitudinally in quantities in the feeding-receptacle, and, motionbeing communicated to the feed, the letters are carried forward by thebottom belt, and are guided, one letter slightlyin advance of the nextfollowing, and so on, by the curved wall,

the obliquely-moving belt at the same time deflecting them toward therollers r r6, so that the letter intended to be fed in first is broughtinto immediate contact with said rollers,which supportand feed theletters to the separator, the roller f5 hindering or checking theentrance of all letters but the rst two or three,

at the same time pressing the letters up to the roller @which feeds themto the separator, Where but two can enter and only one be fed through,the separation being accomplished as hereinbefore described.

By arranging the roller r to interlap between the rollers r and r2 thedistance between the point of contact of the rollers r2 rx and the pointof contact of the rollers o" .1"5 is somewhat less than the length ofthe shortest envelope, so that the front and rear ends of the shortestletter used Will be equally supported by the rollers r and 'r2 untilsuch letter is in firm frictional contact with the rollers r and r2.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. An automatic letter-feeding receptacle consisting of a straight wall,a wall partially curved, and an obliquely-moving bottom feedbelt,whereby lettersplaced in the receptacle are guided, one slightly inadvance of the other, and deflected toward feeding-rollers,substantially as specified.

2. The combination, with a letter-separator and feed-rollers, of anautomatic letter-feeding receptacle consisting of a straight wall, aWall partially curved, and a moving bottom belt, whereby the movingletters are automatically arranged, one slightly in advance of theother, and are guided and deiiected toward and into contact with thefeed-rollers, substantially as specified.

3. The combination, with a letter-separator, of an automaticletter-feeding receptacle having a wall partially curved for guiding theletters, one a little in advance of the other, an

obliqu ely-moving bottom 'feed-belt for deiiecting the letters towardthe feeding-rollers, and a supporting feed roller, substantially asspecified.

4. In an intermittent letter feeding and separating machine, thecombination of the feed-roller r and rollers r' r2, the roller rrarranged to interlap between the rollers r and r2, all of said rollersrotating in the same direction, substantially as and for the purpose setforth.

5. In a letter-separating machine, the combination, with thefeed-rollers fr frz, mounted on a shaft journaled in stationarybearings, of the separating-rollers mounted on a shaft journaled inyielding bearings, said shaft connected by a universal joint to a shaftjournaled in stationary bearings, substantially as specified.

6. The combination of the stationary journaled feed-rollers, theseparating-rollers journaled in yielding bearings and connected by auniversal' joint to the ldriving-shaft s, the pulleys g g', andspring-belt 7c, substantially as specified.

7. The combination, with an automatic letter-feeding receptacle, of ayieldingly-j ournaled hinderance or check and pressure roller andintel-lapping feed-rollers, substantially as specified.

8. The combination, with an automatic letter-feeding receptacle, a checkand pressure roller, and an-interlapping feed-roller, of aletter-separator and feed-rollers, substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name, in the presence oftwo attesting witnesses, at New York, in the county of New York, in theState of New York.

MATTHEW J. DOLPHIN.v

Witnesses:

HERVEY SHELDON, D. W. C. BROWN.

